Tackling a rising tide of disabled drug mules

Authorities are cracking down on those who use the most vulnerable people in society to transport illegal substances. Zhang Yi reports.

Police have opened a new front in the war on drugs by targeting traffickers who recruit the disabled and other vulnerable people as couriers, or "mules".

Drug gangs target these groups - people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, plus pregnant or lactating women - because Chinese law contains a number of clauses that allow them to avoid prison. That, plus the offer of "easy money", is often enough for those from the poorest sections of society to run the risks associated with the trade.